Acidity and the balance between acid and alkaline

Are you too "acidic"?

Most of us are familiar with the idea that our body needs to maintain a balance between acid and alkaline, but what does this really mean?

When our body tissue or fluids become too acidic, this is in itself a form of stress, so lets call it "acid stress".

What are the results of being too acidic?

To be too acidic (or too alkaline) in the body can have far reaching consequences. For example, if the blood becomes too acidic:

It takes some of the alkaline forming elements from the enzymes in the small intestine to stay balanced. The small intestine then becomes too acidic to digest foods optimally. The pancreas, gallbladder and liver are then forced to make up for this deficiency in order to metabolise foods properly. This has a direct bearing on metabolic enzyme production, which is literally involved in every biochemical reaction in the body.

The result is:

• lowered immune function
• fatigue
• hormonal imbalances
• absorption and digestive problems - just to name a few.

The bones will leach calcium, the most alkaline mineral. This can lead to reduced absorption of supplemental minerals and bone density problems, osteoporosis!

A loss of bone density is one thing but the Acid Stress goes further than that, as the magnesium level drops cardiac function may be directly affected. A low level of magnesium could also lead to heart problems, stiffness or tightness in muscles, cramps or twitches and a host of other signs.

And it goes even deeper. Lactic Acid is produced by cellular function and has a pH of 1, if it is not converted appropriately to pyruvic acid it will build up in the interstitial space of our bodies and this is how our tissues then become acidic, the tissues will be screaming out for more alkalising support to try and correct the balance.

Insulin levels increase and fat is stored instead of being metabolised. When malnutrition or starvation sets in, the body becomes acidic and as a safety, insulin is over produced so that all available calories are stored as fat for future use. As a result, weight gain is common and weight loss becomes more difficult.

Electrolyte imbalances occur which have a direct bearing on the “fluid transport system”.
Electrolytes are important because they are what the cells, especially the nerve, heart and muscle cells use to maintain voltages across their cell membranes. For the most effective electrolyte replacement we use Elete liquid - ionic electrolyte minerals without any additives.

Additional stress is placed on the kidneys, gallbladder, pancreas and other organs.

Similar problems may occur if we become too alkaline, though this is much less likely.
 
So why does it happen?

We become acidic because:

1.   we eat too much acid forming foods, not enough alkaline foods.
2.   we become deficient in bicarbonate - the pancreas is overworked
   
3.   we become deficient in alkaline buffer minerals - inadequate diet
   

Acid stress starts with the digestive system or the G.I.T. The stomach is obviously a place that needs to be acidic and with the production of Hcl this is achieved and so the pH of the stomach runs at around 1.2 - 3. As food moves along into the intestines the pH shifts to 7.2 - 8.2, this is due to the effort of our pancreas adding alkalising bicarbonates. Bile from the liver is also used in this process of alkalising.

Bile pH should be between 7.5 - 8.6 and it is often shown from stool samples that many people have acidic stools (pH=5.5).  If the intestines are too acidic there is a safety feedback system in our body that will cause the stomach to turn off the production of Hcl, this then leads to a condition known as hypochlorhydia(low stomach acid). While this may solve one problem it will immediately raises others and is another aspect of "acid stress". Low stomach acid or NO stomach acid is something we also see a lot of and leads of course to many deficiencies itself.

Quite simply, with the pH of the intestines being too low(5.5 - 6.5) then as food is digested the elements are then transferred into the body fluids and blood but the result is a lowering of the pH of the blood itself. The blood pH should be between 7.35 - 7.42 and is kept in close check by the body.

A vicious cycle starts to occur and with the acidity there is an increased use of various minerals, a higher requirement for the important buffering minerals such as calcium and magnesium, Zinc, selenium and manganese. In this situation dietary intake will generally be inadequate and therefore if supplementation is not used the body cleverly starts to strip minerals from other sources - the biggest storage of these buffering minerals is the bone, as mentioned above, one of the symptoms that may occur over time could be osteoporosis.

In our clinic we will often ask clients for a urine sample to get a snapshot of the pH. While not as accurate as the blood pH it is still a helpful indicator.

So, what can be done to combat this problem?

Obviously maintaining the proper pH in the blood, digestive tract, tissues and fluids is essential to support optimal health. We can eat more fresh food, add lemon or lime juice into your day.............................

There are several essential things you can do to raise pH to 6.6 or higher.
Nutrition:

• increase intake of fresh organically grown raw fruit and veges to 60-70% of EVERY meal.

• seriously diminish, preferably eliminate…all animal derived protein and most grains.

• use powdered barley, wheat, Lucerne/alfalfa grasses, chlorella, spirulina, bee pollen fairly generously.

Sodium bicarbonate: [Matrix Alkali - something similar]

• if pH is at say 5.5 then use ½ tsp in apple or black currant juice, 75 minutes after each meal.

• if pH is around 4.5 then use a rounded tsp 75 minutes after each meal. (An Italian oncologist has reversed cancer with Nabicarb. This will never do! Imagine reversing cancer with a $1.50 box of Nabicarb. Oh NO!)
  

• Alkaline buffer minerals: magnesium [Mg], potassium [K], calcium [Ca]

There are various forms  of minerals and we have some great ones on hand in the clinic that deliver the minerals into the cytoplasm of the cells.

Persons who are intense and/or passionate will tend to exert more influence on their pH balance from day to day than someone less so.

Here are a few examples of emotional influence of human pH:

• Hate lowers the pH to become more acidic.
• Fear lowers the pH to become more acidic.
• Anarchy lowers the pH to become more acidic.
• Distrust lowers the pH to become more acidic.
• Vengeance lowers the pH to become more acidic.
• Aggressiveness raises the pH to become more alkaline.
• Defensiveness raises the pH to become more alkaline.
• Meditation raises the pH to become more alkaline.
• Reverence raises the pH to become more alkaline.
• Peace raises the pH to become more alkaline.
• Joy raises the pH to become more alkaline.

Eliminate heavy metals, spray residues, all chemicals in and on food, amalgam, plastics, radiation [cell phones etc]